North Korea: Nuclear War With U.S. May Be Near
The war of words continues in east Asia today.
North Korea warns it is prepared for war if the United States takes action to stop its ballistic missile program.
But President Donald Trump is not backing down to end Kim Jong Un's threats once and for all.
In the aftermath of Vice President Mike Pence's visit to the Korean demilitarized zone, North Korea's deputy representative at the U.N. gave a stern warning to the world body.
"Thermonuclear war may break out at any moment on the peninsula," Kim In Ryong threatened.
How great is the North Korea threat? Despite this weekend's missile failure, last month, the country launched four ballistic missiles more than 600 miles. They dropped into the Sea of Japan--three of them in Japanese territorial waters.
That was followed by more threats to launch missiles and maybe even a nuclear one against the United States.
It's clear that North Korea is not backing down.
"We'll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis," NK Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol said.
One reporter asked President Trump if he had any message for North Korea. The president responded saying, "You gotta behave!"
In Japan, Vice President Pence said the U.S. will be reaching out to North Korea's neighbors to help shut down Kim Jong Un's missile and nuclear development programs.
"The era of strategic patience is over. While all our options are on the table, President Trump is determined to work closely with Japan, with South Korea, with all our allies in the region, and with China," he said.
China wants to cool tempers and would like to see a return to multilateral negotiations with North Korea.
But Pyongyang has a long record of bad behavior and it broke previous agreements negotiated by President Bill Clinton and others.
In 1994, the North Korean government agreed to shut down its nuclear development program. Five years later, CBN News obtained satellite imagery showing a plutonium production site still in operation near Yongbyon.
"North Korea is a problem. The problem will be taken care of," President Trump insisted.
For now, the president isn't saying how he intends to deal with the North Korea problem. However, the United States is in the first phase of deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-ballistic missile system--THAAD--in South Korea.
And when asked what he plans next, President Trump said, "Wait and see."